Oran was sitting in his troika. Five days ago, Ulf, who was on a mission to Ella Castle, finally accomplished his goal and returned to the castle with a letter.
To be precise, this is a test letter. The two parties agreed to stay at "Dan Castle" which is close to Ella's territory and not too far from Oran Castle.
Dan Castle was a fiefdom owned by Ella as a member of the royal family before she came to the throne. It governed thousands of people and had a century-old stone castle as its base.
This place is considered one of the most named towns in North Central England.
Oran takes this meeting seriously, but also wants to keep himself safe.
Before leaving, he called all his subordinates in front of him and arranged everyone's duties.
"Rad Walker" was ordered to alert Marcus's border soldiers, but he did not follow. The letter Oran himself sent to appease the Baron's mother was just a trick. Once he was free, he would overwhelm the troops.
At the same time, Oran also became concerned about the situation in Yewei County to the north.
At present, the official name of the county chief here is "Earl Sachs", who is famous for his timid character.
There were many Viking settlements in his territory, and Earl Earl could not drive them away, so he simply coexisted with them peacefully.
Unexpectedly, it worked wonders later. The Vikings who stayed in this county tacitly established a unique political system a few years ago - the "Danfa District".
The so-called Danish law area is the area on the British island where Danish Viking laws and currency are implemented.
With the invasion of the Norse Vikings after 790 AD, 75 years have passed today (865 AD).
Kill, merge, reproduce.
There were many people and leaders among the Vikings who wanted peace.
Now throughout the British Isles, the Danfa area is mainly located in central and northern England.
This is also the reason why Oran is afraid that Marcus really has a lot of Viking force.
If he takes action, he has to hit the opponent completely without the ability to counterattack.
Otherwise, it is better to wait and see what happens.
With the establishment of the guild, Oran sent the wool merchants in the territory northward. On the one hand, he wanted to change the future wool trade into a large-scale trade between lords, and then sell the goods to the south, where the economy was stronger.
On the one hand, it is also about gathering information.
"Armand Oswan" led forty people back and forth along the way to check if any suspicious troops wanted to attack him, and finally met in Dan City.
"Kunsang Vijay" led another infantry team, with a small number of longbowmen to protect himself, a total of seventy people.
"Nandin Vijay" led the city's most elite light and heavy horsemen, pikemen, a small number of heavy infantry, priests and others to protect Oran. This team had a maximum of 150 people in total.
In addition, as an ally, "Gazi Moore" will also send fifty troops to bring the troops to the vicinity of Danbao to respond to Oran.
At this time, England was vast and sparsely populated, and there were many robber barons who dared to establish themselves as lords with a few guns and commanded dozens of people.
If it weren't for a battle to seize the city, a team of several hundred people would be strong enough.
This time he officially met with Ella, the King of Northumbria, but Oran was not as nervous as his subordinates.
Although they are in the same class as king and baron, the gap is not as big as imagined.
The seven countries put together at this time are only as big as England in the memory of the previous life.
Ella was only one of the seven kings, and more than half of the eight counties of Northumbria still supported the former king, making Ella even weaker.
A king with such power and prestige could only be called a duke or great count in Southern Frankia or Eastern Rome.
The wheels rolled over and the horses' hooves trampled.
Oran's men and horses looked like a row of black dots from the sky.
The carriage queue was long, but orderly and not chaotic.
Ella's men also took control of the situation from the moment Oran approached the border.
Along the road, the scout riders went back and forth, and every time the hourglass moved about three spaces (about one hour), they would come back and report to Ella in the hall about the Oran team.
It was close to 12 noon on April 1, 865 AD. The sky was clear and cloudy, with occasional eagles flying over.
In the later book "Kings of Britain", this meeting was called - "The Oath of Dancheng".
"...In terms of its location, I call it the Oath of Dan City, but in terms of its more far-reaching influence, I want to give it a great title. This is the first time that people in this country have visited it after the Great Emperor (King Arthur). With such unity to fight against foreign enemies, I would like to call it the beginning of the 'post-Arthur era'..."
Excerpted from Kings of Britain - Volume 3, The Wind Rises.
…
Around one o'clock at noon.
Baron Oran from County Durham led his soldiers and envoys into the open square outside the gate of Danburg Castle.
At this time, a large number of nobles gathered in Danbao. In addition to Ella's own relatives, there were also his court subjects and retinues.
Including the soldiers, Ella brought two hundred people into Dan Fort. If the combat-effective people were separated and the defenders were included, the defenders of Dan Fort would be close to 400.
They have received instructions. If they cannot reach an agreement, Baron Oran will become a prisoner.
But most nobles who enjoy peace love to fight, and the people of Danbao don't want to at all.
They had done everything they had to do yesterday, even "seeding". Today, not many people dared to walk around outside, and not many people dared to make a fuss inside their own houses.
At this time, Ella stood on the city wall, and the traces left by the years on his body became more and more obvious.
The creases on your face told him, "You are no longer young."
Seeing the white eagle flag flying, he felt emotional and let out a long sigh.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Ella's wife Hai'an approached and asked.
"Olan's father fought bravely, but he never made me feel too much of a threat. But look at the men and horses this boy brought, and there in the distance. Did you see that Baron Ghazi's men were so strong in just a few short days?" In just a few months, he has become the largest controller in County Durham, and may even go further in the future!
Thinking of myself, your two children and I are sick and in trouble, and my four daughters cannot share my responsibilities, so I sigh. "
"Your Majesty, I must remind you, there are three. Malm is a sinner. This was agreed upon by the priests and nobles, and was also approved at the palace meeting."
"Didn't we find out later? She was not sent back by the Vikings, she escaped!"
"Only God knows what happened, but with her beauty, the rude Viking barbarians would easily let her escape. Didn't she use her status as a princess to promise anything? By sending her to a monastery, these problems can be solved. Rumors eliminated.
When you meet Oran today, the most important thing is to talk about how he supports you, not about marriage.
The sinner's marriage is not important, but the "legal orthodoxy" cannot be easily let go. You must let him know that his master is you, and his next master is the son of the two of us. "
Hai'an is full of women's jealousy, but her "skills" are very good and well maintained, which fascinates Ella.
Let Ella still feel young and strong when doing things in bed.
Moreover, when he was brought to power by a noble, he was repeatedly assassinated by his brother. In order to save himself, Hai An almost lost his life and even aborted a child.
Hai'an's younger brother Gulie also saved himself on the battlefield and lost his only son.
Therefore, Ella could only barely survive Haian's persecution of Malm, but could not turn her back.
Ella longed for power, but he and his brother competed with each other, making the whole of Middle England weak. Not only did they lose the chance to compete for the hegemony of the Seven Kingdoms, but even the Vikings were tired of coping.
Sometimes when he wakes up from a dream in the middle of the night, he even wonders, did he do something wrong?
Half a month ago, when he tentatively proposed reconciliation with his brother, the nobles who supported him, and even his wife, fiercely opposed it and even sounded threatening.
At that moment Ella understood.
They are the king, and they are the "hands of the king (the palace prime minister)", the "princess", and the "real nobles".
If they are no longer the king, they can replace them with a king who still enjoys the same status.
People are indifferent.
Ella was chilled and angry, and at this time she met Oran for the third time - the priest messenger sent to negotiate.
As a result, the increasingly aggrieved king prepared to reverse the situation at the last moment of his life.
Before the end of his life, he will become the true ruler of the eight counties.
He wants to sit on the negotiation table with "Mercia" and "Wessex" to fight against the Vikings and rule England together!
